The Kintrek KBP-1 was an American bullpup sporting rifle designed by Rick Krouse in 1985[1] and produced by Kintrek Incorporated from 1991 to 1992. The KBP-1 is the only known product manufactured by Kintrek Incorporated.
History[]
The KBP-1 is a sporting rifle manufactured by Kintrek Incorporated. Production begun in 1991 with the weapon being sold at about $200, but ended a year later due to poor sales and shooters not taking a real liking the the bullpup design, effectively putting Kintrek out of business. Only some 1,000 were produced.
Design Details[]
The KBP-1 is a bullpup sporting rifle that fits a transparent plastic 17-round magazine in the rear. It has an ejection port covered by a hinged dust cover. When swung up, the weapon ejects from the right, effectively making it a right-handed only weapon. However, with the dust cover put down, the weapon ejects through the stock, making it suitable for ambidextrous use.
The weapon's charging handle is located at the top of the weapon and needs to be pulled back quite hard in order to charge the weapon. The weapon has a grip safety which when depressed disables an internal firing pin block. The weapon also has A-2 sights, which are very poorly placed; they only protrude about 2 inches above the barrel, making them very easy to get damaged. Any damage to the sights nearly destroys the firearm's value.
The KBP-1 has a synthetic stock that is of a one-piece design. The KBP-1's magazines are proprietary and are somewhat ingenious; a coiled spring is attached to the top of the magazine with the coil beneath the magazine's lifting plate. When cartridges are inserted into the magazine, the coiled spring uncoils itself which helps to maintain the lifting tension required. The spring top is attached to the plastic by a small button which is said to be quite brittle; if the button breaks off, this effectively renders the rifle useless.[2] The magazines also appear to be somewhat unreliable.
The KBP-1's magazines, as stated above, are proprietary and cannot be used with other similar weapons; these are also often considered to be the downfall of this weapon. As Kintrek magazines appear to be hard to come by, let alone functioning ones, it is said that Armscor magazines do work with the weapon, although they do have to be modified to lock up.[3] While fairly rare when compared to its contemporaries, the KBP-1 does not appear to go for very high quite often during firearms auctions, with prices for the weapon usually being from about $100 to $800.
References[]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||